Wasp Almost Debuted in ‘Captain America: Civil War’ — And Here’s the Concept Art to Prove It

The general assumption out there is that Marvel has their cinematic universe planned so far in advance and in such exacting detail, that very little is left to chance or revision. But that’s not always true. Marvel develops their movies carefully and thoughtfully — but they still undergo a process of rewriting just like any other studio. And not everything is part of some grand master plan. (You can read my recent interview with Infinity War writers Markus and McFeely for proof of that.)

Here’s just one more recent example: Originally, the Wasp was going to make her in-costume debut in Captain America: Civil War, rather than in her own (shared) film, Ant-Man and the Wasp. This has been rumored previously, but today Marvel Studios Director of Visual Development Andy Park tweeted out a piece of concept art that conclusively proves that Wasp was originally part of the third Cap film.

You’ll also notice that in that piece of art Ant-Man and Wasp are fighting Hawkeye. In the finished film, both Hawkeye and Ant-Man are members of Captain America’s Avengers team. Clearly, the allegiances of at least one of those heroes was changed during in the writing process; at some point one of them was working with Iron Man instead of Cap. So there’s something else that got altered.

Ultimately, I think the choice to keep Wasp fresh for her own movie was the right call. Civil War was already overstuffed with the introductions of Spider-Man and Black Panther. Throwing the Wasp in too would have made it all too easy for her to get overshadowed. In Ant-Man and the Wasp, she got to shine with a lot less competition for the spotlight.

Ant-Man and the Wasp is currently available on a variety of home video formats.